


Something New

by PixiTwist



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: 30's, 60s, Costume Parties & Masquerades, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Historical References, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M, Victorian, World War II, averted armageddon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-06-23 20:46:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19709134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PixiTwist/pseuds/PixiTwist
Summary: This takes place right after the lunch at the Ritz after the averted apocalypse. The story's main focus is on the relationship of Crowley and Aziraphale, who may or may not have been pining for each other for 6000 years. Both of them will open up and come to terms with each other. Also there's a bit of angst, but it's nothing bad.





	1. Chapter 1

Aziraphale and Crowley were sitting at the Ritz. Both had actually been talking and having a nice lunch. This familiar lunch takes place after averted apocalypse, and after the whole body switching thing between the two. The piano played in the background, and Aziraphale was having a lovely chat with Crowley. Surprisingly, they both had smiles on their faces as they chatted. 

This went on for a small short while until Aziraphale’s attention changed. He turned and looked at the woman who played the piano then smiled when he realized the song. Crowley took a sip of his drink, then put it down when he realized the sudden lack of conversation from Aziraphale.

“Penny for your thoughts?” asked Crowley. 

Aziraphale turned his head to meet Crowley’s. “Do you really think that a nightingale has ever sung in Berkeley Square?”

Crowley was confused by the answer. The way that it was so random was what made him confused. Then again, it was Aziraphale who he was talking to. He was always somewhat odd, or at least what would be described as odd from others. It’s not like Crowley minded though, so that’s why he answered. 

“Not really sure, might just be one of those things that is a figure of speech, ya know?” 

“Hm, maybe… Anyhow, would you like to come to my shop after we're done here?” 

Crowley responded quick. “I’d love to.” 

Aziraphale smiled at Crowley’s answer and then continued to eat his dessert. Things were quite normal for the rest of the evening, that was until they started ordering alcohol that is. Things escalated quite a bit from there. Instead of planning to just stay for a short time having lunch, it instead went to dinner. Then it went to the late afternoon. The staff was annoyed as it was. Slowly the place began to empty until there were only two people left still dining. Crowley and Aziraphale had been drunk out of their minds at this point. In fact, both of them were laughing hysterically. Why? Well, they can’t even remember themselves. A waiter came up eagerly to them to try and tell them to leave. Aziraphale and Crowley were both too drunk to notice the poor man. That was until he coughed. Both of them turned their heads to the waiter who held out a bill. 

Crowley took the bill out of the man's hand and paid it before Aziraphale had any chance to argue. If he saw it he would have flipped out and wanted to pay instead. Crowley didn’t want that at all, so he paid it. The bill, in fact, was enormous. That’s what happens when you go through three bottles of expensive wine though. After Crowley handed the bill back to the waiter, the waiter then told them that they would have to leave. Aziraphale was the one who grumbled about it, which was different. They both left without making a fuss though. 

The two stumbled out of the Ritz both holding onto each other for support. It wasn’t long till they both realized it was raining outside. 

“Are you still going to drive home?” asked Aziraphale in a drunken slur. 

“Not sssure.”

Aziraphale glared at Crowley. “You are not going to.” 

“Fine, fine…” agreed Crowley. 

Both of them somewhat sobered up at that moment. Meanwhile, Aziraphale was still happy that he won the argument. “So, to your place?” asked Crowley. Aziraphale nodded his head. He miracled an umbrella soon after. Crowley though still did not want to walk through the rain. He didn’t want to get his designer shoes to get mucky with rain, so against Aziraphale’s wishes, he snapped his fingers. 

Aziraphale and Crowley were both in the book shop now. It was a great contrast to where they had just been. Aziraphale was somewhat mad at Crowley. 

“Crowley! That was a waste to a miracle.” 

“A good waste of one,” stated Crowley. 

Aziraphale glared at Crowley. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was glad that they weren’t going to walk in the rain. “So… Wheres the alcohol?” Crowley smiled devilishly. Aziraphale rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help a small smile. He leads Crowley to their usual drinking spot and then had left to get a bottle of some wine. 

Crowley had time to snoop around when the Aziraphale wasn’t around. He didn’t find anything except for just books. Just the usual really, which bored Crowley. When he was done, he flopped back down on the sofa taking up all of its space. His long legs dangled off of it even. That was when Aziraphale walked in with two bottles and two glasses. He handed one of the glasses to Crowley. Crowley leaned and took it. Their fingers slightly graced each other. Crowley looked up immediately to see Aziraphale, but it was too late. Aziraphale had already turned and went over to his chair. 

He set the bottles and his glass on the table that was between the two. Then he sat down with a huff. Crowley sat up right and grabbed a bottle. He looked at it before pouring a drink. 

“This is some expensive stuff? Where’d ya even get this stuff?” asked Crowley. 

Aziraphale grabbed his bottle and began to pour, but he still answered Crowley. “Paris 1912, I made a trip there once or twice to get a couple of books. On my way there I got a couple of bottles.” 

Crowley shrugged then opened the bottle. He poured himself a drink and started drinking. Things began to escalate from there again. Their alcohol level increased dramatically. One glass turned to ten, then it turned to bottles. Both were slobbered and were running out of more alcohol. Aziraphale got up to get a couple more bottles when he tripped on the way. Crowley luckily caught him, although he too was close to tripping. 

“Woah there Angel, I thinks youve had too much to drink.” 

Aziraphale slowly got back on his feet. His face was flustered beyond comparison.

“I’m fine…” mumbled Aziraphale. 

Crowley didn’t believe that. “I think you need to go to bed.” 

Aziraphale shot his head up and looked at Crowley making eye contact. “Bed?”

He said it in disbelief. Truth be told, he didn’t actually sleep. Not ever, I mean, he did have a bed, but it only had been used once. That one time wasn’t that great either. He had used it because he really needs sleep. This was due to an event taking place that he would rather not talk about. 

Around the early sixties, he found himself in a brawl. He was standing up for a couple who were being harassed by two goons. If Aziraphale wasn’t there in time, the two men would’ve been hurt, so that’s why he found himself in trouble. He stood in front of the couple and faced the other two, but that's when things turned for the worse. It wasn’t his fault, I mean he should have seen the gun, but it was too late when he did. He was shot in the side, but all that did was make him a bit more agitated. The couple behind him rushed to his side trying to help him. He still stood firm though. He did take off his coat though. 

“That’ll be terrible to try and sew back,” he said while looking at the hole the bullet made. 

He then turned to the couple to his side and gave them his coat. “Please hold onto it, it would be a shame to lose it altogether.” His tone was sweet and kind as always but had an expression that was fearsome. They both shook their head yes slightly scared. Aziraphale rolled up his sleeves and then stepped forward. There was instantly a sharp pain that came from that. He gritted his teeth and barred with it though. 

Meanwhile, the ones who were on the opposing sides were confused. Aziraphale glared at them. They both looked at Aziraphale with a small hint of fear. The one who had the gun stepped back just a tiny bit. The other one who had been bigger and had a baseball bat in his hands screamed at the one with the gun. 

“What are you doing? Shoot him again!” 

The one with the gun pointed it at Aziraphale but was thrown off when he suddenly realized that he had disappeared. Just like that Aziraphale was behind him. He took the gun from the guy's hand and then tripped him. The guy hit the ground so hard that it knocked him out. 

“I really don’t see a need for these,” said Aziraphale.

The gun then began to melt in his hand. He threw it aside, and it made a clattering noise on the ground. The one with the baseball bat was quick to attack though. Aziraphale turned and held his fists up in a fighting stance. The other was quick to swing the bat. Aziraphale dodged it by ducking. Then when he sprang up, he gave a good jab at the dude's face. He staggered back but got his barrings quick. Once again he charged at Aziraphale. He swung again, and again, but it made no contact. That was when Aziraphale made contact. With all his strength he aimed for the goons liver and had successfully hit it. The goon staggered backward with a loss of breath. Aziraphale took the bat from his hands soon after. In that small moment, Aziraphale moved the bat back, then swung with his remaining strength. He hit the man successfully at his sides. The swing was so bad that he would surely have a couple of broken ribs. 

Aziraphale threw the bat down right after. It fell onto the ground and only stayed in place after it somewhat bounced. He lingered there while he caught his breath. Then he shortly remembered the other two men. His shoulders fell, and he was back to his regular self. He then apologized when he saw the looks on their faces. “Sorry, that got a little out of hand.” They both shook their heads no. Aziraphale gave a small smile then decided to walk. That was a huge mistake. 

He staggered and lost balance. The pain had been immense. The couple rushed forward to help him. They put his arms around their shoulders and stood him up. Even that brought him pain. Truth was that he’d lost all too much blood at this point. His consciousness was fading in and out. He suddenly snapped back awake when he heard the arguing of the couple. 

“We have to bring him to the hospital!” shouted the one. 

The other argued that they shouldn’t right after. That was when Aziraphale finally spoke again. 

“No, no hospital.” 

The two men looked down at him. “Where then?”

“I’ll tell you directions, just… we better get there quick.” 

They nodded their heads and took directions from Aziraphale. On their way down the street, they looked at the half-melted gun. Both of them saw it happen but didn’t quite believe it. All they knew right now was to help Aziraphale. Aziraphale lost a lot of blood on the way back. It was basically pouring from him at this point. They did eventually get back to Aziraphale's bookshop though. 

The three of them stood at the front door now. The couple looked up and read the sign. One of them even asked whose place it was. Aziraphale moved his right arm off one of their shoulders and went into his left pocket. He pulled out a set of keys. Then he got the key for the shop and put it through the lock. It clicked and opened. The two looked completely puzzled. “It’s mine,” said Aziraphale. He put his arm back around the one man. They carried him inside right away but stopped once they got in. Both of them were marveled at the various books that were everywhere. 

They went back to the task at hand when Aziraphale started to lose conscious again. Aziraphale then told them where to put him. They slowly put him down on a sofa. The one who held his coat put it beside him. Then the other asked where the medical supplies where. Aziraphale told him and then told the other to grab the phone that was on a nearby desk. The young man grabbed the black phone and handed it to Aziraphale. With shaky fingers, he put in the number. After that, he waited for the other end to pick up. It was picked up fairly quickly and luckily the other was close enough to hear just a tiny bit of the other. 

Aziraphale explained the situation very clearly, but the other sounded very panicked. Then the line was disconnected quickly. Aziraphale sighed and put the phone back, then set the whole thing on the ground. The other who went out to get the medical supplies showed up right after. He crouched down next to his boyfriend next to the odd stranger. He went to lift Aziraphale's shirt when Aziraphale’s hand stopped him. “No, It’ll be fine. My friend is coming to help, but you two should go. Thank you for getting me here.” The two shook their heads no and instead said thanks to him. They put the medicine box down and said their goodbyes. “Please visit anytime, you are always welcome.” They nodded their heads and made their way out of the book shop.

They closed the door behind them and made their way down the street. That was when they saw a car going way too fast by them. They stopped and looked back. The car that had whizzed right past them stopped in front of the book shop. A tall man with red hair and sunglasses stepped out and ran to the front door. 

“I suppose that’s his friend?” 

“Odd fellow for wearing sunglasses at night though.” said the other. 

The couple made their way down the street after that. Meanwhile, Crowley had just burst through the front door to rush to Aziraphale. With a snap of his fingers, the door’s closed behind him. He now stood in the middle of the shop. 

“Aziraphale! Where are you?” shouted Crowley. 

Aziraphale very weakly shouted. “In here!”

Crowley rushed to the back room. Once he saw Aziraphale he rushed forward and dropped to his knees. He lifted Aziraphale's shirt and looked at the wound. There was blood everywhere. Crowley waved his hand over the wound, and the bullet that was in their slowly came out. It dropped into his hands once it was finally out. He put it on a table next to them. Then he opened the first aid and began to clean it up with some disinfectant. Aziraphale groaned at it as it stung. He bit his lip to not scream. Then Crowley began to stitch the wound. 

Aziraphale clutched the edge of the sofa when he did so. Then when he was done he finally settled back to normal. He was able to sit up once Crowley was done wrapping him. Crowley sighed and sat down at a chair right after. 

“Thank you.” 

“It’s no problem, but what were you thinking!” said Crowley. 

Aziraphale answered quickly“I know… I just… ugh, I don’t know, trying to do the good thing.” 

Crowley glared at Aziraphale, then let it go. He sighed again. “Hm, so a turtle neck then?” asked Aziraphale. Crowley looked up right after. 

“Oh yeah… What, don’t like it?”

He shook his head no. “No, no, no, it’s actually not bad.” 

Crowley gave a small laugh. Aziraphale laughed back but was overcome with drowsiness. “I think… I might go to sleep.” He began to doze off. Then out of nowhere, he felt himself being lifted up. He opened his eyes to see it was because of Crowley. Crowley had picked him up and was now walking out of the back room. Aziraphale shouted at him. “What, what are you doing!?” Crowley side glanced at Aziraphale. 

“I’m taking you to your bed, you need to rest.” 

Aziraphale was going to protest, but that died when his need for sleep made him reconsider. Crowley slowly climbed the stairs up. He reached Aziraphale's room and opened the door to find a bed near a window. Slowly he put Aziraphale down onto the bed. Then when he was finally laying down, Crowley undid his suspenders and shoes. Once those were off, he pulled the covers over Aziraphale. 

Sleep overtook Aziraphale right away. And that was the one time Aziraphale had ever slept before. He hadn’t done it since then, so you can well imagine why he was so puzzled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aziraphale and Crowley struggle to make it to bed, but when they do Aziraphale finds sleep to be harder than the last time. And when he does finally get to sleep he actually has a dream. Crowley, on the other hand, does not have it so good.

Aziraphale still stood there confused. Eventually, he even sat down to comprehend what Crowley was saying. He really wasn’t sure why he should sleep. He could obviously sober up, can't he? Now that he somewhat thought about it, maybe he couldn’t when he was intoxicated. They did get really out of hand with the alcohol tonight. 

“Come on Angel, You’ll have to sleep this one off…” dragged on Crowley. 

He sighed and looked back at Crowley. “I just dont seee the pOint.”

Crowley scoffed back at his response. He then shook his head no. Even drunk he was going to argue. 

“Sleep is great though! You should try it more often.” 

Aziraphale pursed his lips. “I’ll just sober up, It’s not like I haven't done it before.” 

Crowley waved his hand out. “You cans try.” 

He got a crude look from Crowley right after. Aziraphale tried to sober up but found that it didn’t work. He looked at Crowley with a puzzled look. 

“I told youu, It doesn’t work that good when your this drunk…” said Crowley with a smile. 

Aziraphale grumbled to himself. He knew Crowley was right, but he still didn’t want to admit it. Then he stood up without saying anything. Crowley smiled and helped Aziraphale walk from there on. Somehow they even managed to make it through the store. They made it to the stairs, but Aziraphale remembered something.

“S-Stop.” pleaded Aziraphale. 

Crowley stopped by the staircase. He looked at Aziraphale confused. “I need… I need to lock the door.” Crowley looked back at the door then snapped his fingers. The sign flipped over to being closed, and the door locked itself. Aziraphale didn’t complain about the not-so-needed use of another miracle this time. Crowley turned back, and they began to climb the stairs now. It was surprisingly hard to do so. Being drunk was really taking a toll on them right now.

Instead of being mad or impatient about their situation though, Aziraphale was actually quite happy. Every time they tripped over their feet or stumbled he’d just giggle or laugh. Crowley, on the other hand, was the opposite. He was not having it at all. Every time he stubbed his foot he’d curse and groan. That and he wasn’t sure if Aziraphale was laughing at him or himself. It was irritating for him completely. 

Both of them continued to climb the excruciating set of stairs. Then, when they were both going to step, they misstepped and went tumbling forward. Aziraphale couldn’t stop but laugh. Crowley was annoyed by a lot. 

“Will You ssstop that.” said Crowley in an annoyed tone of voice. 

Aziraphale moved and was now sitting. “I swear, It seems that we will never get to the top.” 

He laughed again then stood up. He leaned over and put his hand out for Crowley to take. Crowley looked up and saw the sweet smile on Aziraphales face. He took his hand a little puzzled. A slight redness appeared on his face right after though, Then out of nowhere he was pulled up very quickly by Aziraphale. Aziraphale stumbled just slightly, and if it weren’t for the rails he might have gone over. “Come on, let’s get goin.” Crowley nodded and smiled back. They continued their ascend upward from there on. 

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, they had made it to the top of the staircase. Crowley stretched his arms and sighed with relief. 

“It’s about time.” 

Aziraphale slightly giggled. He slowly made his way to his bedroom right after, although he still held onto Crowley for support. Crowley helped him to his room and even opened the door for both of them. As they stepped in, Crowley recognized the sweet smell of lavender. It was the room as he figured out in his clouded mind. He smiled and smelled the room again. Both of them hobbled over to the bed right after. Aziraphale sat down and began to undress. Not completely, but just take off his shoes and such. 

Once he was done with that he flopped back down onto the bed. He shifted around and found himself in the covers. He sighed and closed his eyes. Even then he still couldn’t find himself to fall asleep. He groaned but then felt a sudden shift on the bed. He turned and saw that Crowley was trying to lay down on the bed. 

“What do you think your doing?” asked Aziraphale shockingly. 

“Laying down for bed?” replied Crowley innocently. 

Aziraphale sat up very quickly with a mad expression on his face. “No… No waay. YOur going on the sofa.”

Crowley slumped his shoulders and pouted. “Nnnnot the sofa, I can’t sleep on that thing. PLease just let me sleep here with you.” 

Aziraphale sighed and lifted the other side of the covers for him. Crowley smiled and began to climb under the covers. Aziraphale said something right before his head hit the pillows though. 

“But take your sock garters off first.” 

Crowley groaned and sat up. After that, he finally nestled into the sheets and began to doze off. Aziraphale on the other hand still couldn’t really sleep. Being drunk did not make him sleepy at all. If anything it seemed to keep him up. He turned slightly towards Crowley. He watched as he slept for a moment just before turning over again. His thoughts mostly consisted of jealousy after that. 

He was jealous of how Crowley could sleep anywhere at any time. It was frustrating almost. He honestly couldn’t pin down why sleep was so great anyways. He’d done it once, though he had barely remembered how it felt. Stuff like this was Crowley's specialty and not Aziraphale's at all. He stayed up longer trying but kept failing. 

Aziraphale sighed and gave up completely. Then when he thought about getting up, an arm was flung over him. Aziraphale froze completely. He turned his head just a tad to the left and saw it was Crowley. 

“Stay.” mumbled a half-asleep Crowley. 

Aziraphale turned his head back and shut his eyes again. The arm distracted him completely from his thoughts though. He couldn’t really think about anything right now, and that’s what helped him. Suddenly overcome with drowsiness, Aziraphale slowly fell asleep. He had no clue he had actually fallen asleep. Everything was still and silent except for the small platters of raindrops that hit the window. It stayed like this for a very long while. 

Meanwhile, Aziraphale was actually dreaming. He was dreaming of being in his library of books. It was very nice. There had been silence completely except for the light turning of papers. Aziraphale in his dream sat on his chair reading a very lovely limited edition copy. Then things began to change when the sound of an all-knowing sound of a car came rolling up. Aziraphale in his dream smiled and put down his book. 

He even took off his glasses and placed them down next to his book. Next, he got up and headed to the front door. He opened it right as Crowley was about to knock. Crowley looked surprised, but a smile soon came onto his face. Then he pulled out a bouquet of roses from behind him along with a box of chocolates. Aziraphale in his dream took them and hugged Crowley in an embrace, but that wasn’t all that happened. The two of them had actually kissed. Well, Aziraphale kissed Crowley, but it’s not like Crowley would have minded. 

Aziraphale somehow woke himself up right there. His eyes shot open and he stared at the ceiling in confusion. Memories from the dream hit him in a rush. He gushed and rolled onto his back. That was when he realized something else. His wings were out. He sat up quicker than lightning when he realized that. 

“What in god’s name…” said Aziraphale puzzled. 

He moved his wings ever so slightly and looked at them. Aziraphale wasn’t sure what happened at all. It came as a complete puzzle to why his wings were out. Usually, he had control of something like that. He sat there confused for a while. 

That was when something else caught his attention. A grunt came from Crowley. Aziraphale’s eyes shot down to Crowley immediately. He was puzzled to why Crowley was in his bed. Then he remembered the whole drunk night before. Aziraphale put his hands on his face and shook his head no. He was all too sober to be waking up to this. His mood changed when something else happened. 

Crowley turned onto his back now, and his expression was concerning. His eyebrows were knitted together, and his eyes were scrunched up. Aziraphale was more than concerned now. He saw as Crowley's fingers held onto the sheets with a death grip. Something was wrong, and he didn’t know what. 

A sudden scream from Crowley made him jump to his side. Aziraphale leaned over Crowley with his wings covering the two of them. He watched as his friend shifted from side to side. Aziraphale put his hand on Crowley's shoulder and began to call his name. He kept calling Crowley’s name again and again, but nothing seemed to wake Crowley up. 

Then when all things seemed to be lost it changed when Aziraphale yelled Crowley’s name one more time. Crowley's eyes slowly opened with confusion. Tears seemed to bead at the ends of them. When Crowley finally fully gained conscious he peered at Aziraphale with confusion. 

“Angel?” said Crowley. 

Aziraphale sighed and tilted his head back. He was glad that Crowley was ok. “What are you doing?” asked Crowley. Aziraphale looked back down and accidentally made eye contact with Crowley. 

“I um… You started screaming in your sleep, I was worried,” answered Aziraphale.

Crowley seemed to remember the dream right after. A sour look went across his face right after. 

“Sorry to worry you… It was just a nasty nightmare was all.” 

Aziraphale looked down at Crowley with concern in his eyes. “Are you ok though?” 

Crowley gave a small laugh. “Yeah, I’m fine.” 

Aziraphale moved back to his side of the bed. He sighed with relief. That was when Crowley caught eye of the wings. “What are you doing with your wings out anyways?” Aziraphale looked back at them. He flushed instantly when he remembered the dream before. 

“N-No reason.” lied Aziraphale. 

He put his wings back almost immediately right after being all too embarrassed. That was when Crowley sat up and began to put most of his clothes back on. Aziraphale watched a little confused. Then after Crowley put on his shoes he stood up. “Where are you going?” asked Aziraphale. Crowley turned and looked at Aziraphale. 

“I gotta get going, got some temptations I gotta get done. I’d love to stay for breakfast but duty calls,” said Crowley. 

He looked at his watch for a short moment. “How about lunch usual time tomorrow though?” Aziraphale nodded his head. Crowley went to snap his fingers, yet stopped right before. “Also, you might wanna take something to get rid of that headache.” Crowley snapped his fingers, and then he was gone just like that. Aziraphale flopped back down onto his bed. There was a lot going through his head. Then out of nowhere, he felt a headache coming on. He was not going to like how the day was going to end up at all. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aziraphale gets a horrible headache, but finds a way to deal with it. Crowley also has something to struggle with. Then on the next day, Aziraphale comes across an unexpected guess, that may become a friend.

Aziraphale went through the rest of the day with a terrible hangover. He was terribly moody too because of it. That meant that he was somewhat off-putting to the customers. Usually, he’s actually really nice to the wandering customers that come in. Not so much to those who come in to buy something though. He’s not really friendly when it comes to that. Although there is an exception when he truly finds a person who is worthy to buy one of his books. 

That doesn’t happen very often at all. He’s only sold maybe three in the last two decades. Crowley had even made a couple comments on it. Other than that though. Aziraphale was trying to make it through the day as normal as he could. He had tried to help as many people as he could while also having the most horrible headache that he’s ever had. He really shouldn't have drunk that much the night before. 

After what seemed like a couple of hours of having the shop open he finally shut it down when he had enough. Suddenly he began to shove the people out. Some of them protested, but Aziraphale was quick to shove them out. By that time he had closed the door with everyone out. He locked the door and flipped the sign to closed almost immediately after. When the door had been locked he slumped down with his back still to the door. His head was thumping really hard. He could barely even think right now. 

He decided that he should go and lay down when the throbbing wouldn’t stop. Slowly he stood a bit straighter, then began to walk. His vision was very impaired because of his headache. He somehow managed to stumble to the sofa nearby though. When he got there he flopped down to his side. Then he moved to his back when his head throbbed again. 

Aziraphale closed his eyes and began to rub his forehead. It didn’t do much, but it did calm him just a tad bit. His thoughts began to linger afterward. Before he knew it he was thinking about the past couple of days. They had been really wild as he thought it. Luckily everything was back to normal though. He and Crowley had managed to do their part and survive, and that was enough for him. If it weren’t for Adam though, they would have been long gone by now. He knew that but was still somewhat surprised that Adam had come out normal. 

Neither he nor Crowley swayed him or helped him. That’s what made Aziraphale so baffled about it. “Guess we have his parents and friends to thank.” thought Aziraphale. He was right about that. Adam’s family and friends were the ones who were the ones to thank. And as much as Aziraphale didn’t wish to say it, he knew that he and Crowley did very little to help. Their efforts were not exactly wasted though, they did have some help in directing Adam at that last part. Part of Aziraphale feels that he really did waste those years on Warlock though. Well, yes and no, he did care for the boy after all. 

He grew to care for the boy, even if he did become somewhat of a brat in the later years. Just a shame that Warlock was the wrong boy. Aziraphale sighed out loud and miracled a blanket over himself. His thoughts changed to more concerning ones. Not for himself but for Crowley. As he remembered, Crowley had been quietly distressed in his sleep which was unusual. 

Crowley, as Aziraphale remembered, had always described sleep as a great experience. Last night was far from great for Crowley though as it seemed. Aziraphale thought on it for a while. He came to realize that the nightmare had to deal with Crowley’s quick exit. Crowley wasn’t one to get straight to his job. He did his “tempting” at his speed. Never was it scheduled, or at least that’s what Azraphale thought. Aziraphale grew more worried as he thought about it though. He didn’t like seeing Crowley in pain for any reason. Then there was  _ that _ dream that entered Aziraphale’s thoughts. 

He had never had a dream before. It was nice, yet the way it ended was worrisome. Aziraphale blushed at the thought of it. The dream was so vivid, yet felt so real. Aziraphale slapped himself softly to stop thinking about it. In his beliefs, he couldn’t be with a demon. It was unheard of and completely off-topic. Still, it’s not like he couldn’t help himself. He’d fallen in love with Crowley all too long ago. None of it mattered though, as he denied himself these feelings knowing that love between them would never be. Dramatic right? If only he knew how Crowley felt. 

Somehow in the midst of Aziraphale’s thoughts, he found himself falling asleep again. Odd, yet it became soothing in away. He could start to see why Crowley fancied sleeping so much. On the other hand, Crowley too was trying to sleep, but couldn’t find it. He had been in his apartment trying to sleep, but couldn’t find it. He kept waking up in a frantic mess. It had been the dreams again. They weren’t good for various reasons. He wasn’t enjoying any of it at all. Sleep usually came to him easily, but it wasn’t now. 

He was confused about why things had suddenly changed. Then it dawned on him when he realized why when he began looking back at the nightmares. Crowley sighed and eased back onto his bed. He needed to desperately sleep, but it hadn’t happened in a couple of weeks now. Ever since they had figured out that Warlock wasn’t the antichrist he hadn’t slept. 

That meant that he went on through all of the events that happened without any sleep. I mean, he didn’t really need sleep, but somehow he became accustomed to it. His body did actually, so any loss of sleep for more than five days drains him completely. He cursed himself for his own doing. It was true though, it was his own fault for why he felt the way he did. 

The rest of the day passed with almost no notice after that. An angel slept for the rest of the afternoon, while a demon stayed up for it. The day that followed soon came upon them, and everyone else. It was a bright sunny day, which was a nice change to things. Aziraphale woke up with knocking on his door. He shot up from the sofa confused. When his vision slowly came into focus he rubbed his head. Lucky for him his headache was gone. He stood up and neatly folded the blanket then put it on the sofa. Aziraphale tidied up himself and headed for the door. He had no clue who would be knocking at such a time. 

When he got to the door he unlocked it, and opened it. To his surprise, it was a small girl. Aziraphale looked down at her confused. From what Aziraphale could see, the girl was probably ten, had brown locks, wore a pretty dress, and seemed pretty straight forward as she stared back at him. 

“Can I… Uh help you?” asked Aziraphale. 

The girl walked right past him into his shop. She walked to the middle where the summoning circle was hidden and looked up gazing at all the books. Aziraphale closed the door behind him and watched as this happened. He furrowed his eyebrows confused. “I’m sorry, but who are you?” The girl turned around and had a smile on her lips. 

“Noone important really, but I had to see this place for myself.” 

Aziraphale tilted his head and looked at her. “What an odd thing for a ten-year-old to say.” thought Aziraphale. Before he could say something though, she stared back and said something else. “My names Emily though.” She turned around again and began to look closer at the books now. Aziraphale started to walk towards her now. 

“I’m sorry, but we aren’t really open right now,” said Aziraphale. 

He stood in front of her now. She turned and made eye contact with him. 

Her smile faded away and she looked a bit sadder. “Your hours say you're opened though…” 

The way the girl looked made Aziraphale a bit sadder, he crumbled completely. “Sorry, sorry, it’s fine, you can stay.” 

The smile on Emily came back instantly. She began to look for books right after that. He sighed as he dug his “What type of book are you looking for then young miss?” asked Aziraphale. She continued to look through the books, then stopped after she heard what Aziraphale asked. 

Emily answered him with, “Something adventurous. I was hoping that you had a couple of JRR Tolkien copies.”

Aziraphale didn’t expect that answer at all. He thought that someone her age would like something a lot less literate. On the other hand, he actually had all of JRR Tolkien’s books, though he had to admit that he didn’t finish all of them. He loved the idea behind the whole lore of them though, so of course, he had first additions of them. 

“Those are some quite hard books to read, are you sure you would want a copy?” 

She nodded her head. Aziraphale sighed and took her to the shelf that held all of the author’s books. “Which one would you like to get?” She looked at them again once more. 

“I thought I should start at the beginning,” said Emily. 

Aziraphale couldn’t help himself but smile. He didn’t expect anyone to be so enthusiastic about books, and especially coming from a small girl. He grabbed the first book of the series. 

He didn’t hand it to her, and instead said, “Before you buy this though, would you like to have breakfast? I have some lovely pastries.” 

She didn’t expect the kind offer, but she took it anyway. Pastries sounded good to any child. She nodded her head. Aziraphale then leads her to a somewhat spacious area by the pillars with a sofa and a table. She sat on the sofa where her legs dangled off of and waited for Aziraphale to come back. When he did come back, he came back with a tray of tea and pastries that he promised. She was overly excited when she saw the small tarts. 

Aziraphale put the tray down on the small table and gave her a plate with the pastry on it. He also laid the book right next to the tray. Then he poured himself tea and took a sip. After his sip, he started a conversation with the girl. “So, what is a small girl such as yourself doing in Soho all by herself?” She finished her tart and put the plate down. 

“I actually just moved in nearby, although my mother doesn’t really know I’m here.” 

The last part concerned Aziraphale. “Your mother doesn’t know, well that’s not very safe, is it? 

Emily's eyes fell to the ground a little ashamed. “I know, but I had to come here after I was told about it.” 

Aziraphale tilted his head again. Not many people know of his shop really or really talk about it. She explained herself before he could ask about it though. “My granddads told me about you and your shop. They say you saved them once, but they also mentioned your shop covered with books.” Aziraphale was confused at first. He had no clue what she was talking about until it hit him. Her granddads were the ones that he saved all those years ago in the sixties. 

“Oh.”

He hadn’t expected it at all. “How are they doing?” Emily dangled her feet off moving them before she replied. 

“Good, they live in the country.” 

Aziraphale smiled gently. “That’s nice.” 

They had a nice small chat after that. Emily had explained that she has a deep love for books. Aziraphale was happy to talk. Having someone interested in books as he was just as great. But just as the conversation was good, it was sure to go back to the book on the table. 

She grabbed the book and shuffled through her pockets. Aziraphale watched this until she finally found what she was looking for and pulled her hand out. She opened her hand to him, and what was inside was twelve dollars. Aziraphale sighed and looked at her. 

“I hope that’s enough,” said Emily. 

Aziraphale frowned shortly. He then moved his hand over to his and closed her hand back to her. He shook his head no. A frown was on her face now, and boy did it make Aziraphale feel guilty. Not completely though, as he had a better idea. 

“Actually...I thought you could just return it to me later.” 

A smile appeared on her face again. She even silently gave him a thank you. Aziraphale smiled sweetly. Truth is, he never lets anyone ever do this sort of thing, but this was an exception. Then out of nowhere she looked behind and saw the clock. Her smile faded again. She explained that she would have to go now as her mom would be expecting her. They said their goodbyes shortly after. Aziraphale waved her goodbye as he watched her walk down the sidewalk. She smiled as she carried the book with her. 

He went back inside and closed the door right after. Then he locked it and headed to his desk. He sat down at the table and sighed deeply. Aziraphale just went against his main rule that he set for himself and others. That one rule was, “This is not a library.” He just broke it completely, but he didn’t feel all that bad about it. Aziraphale was happy that the young girl would enjoy the book. Then out of his thoughts, he had remembered something. He and Crowley were supposed to have lunch by now, yet there had been no sign of Crowley. Crowley should have come by to pick him up by now. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After digging, Aziraphale finds out what's wrong with Crowley and finally helps him through it all. Also, this is where the angst finally comes in, so you've been warned.

It was indeed very concerning that Crowley hadn’t shown up. Being late for one of their lunches was never in Crowley's book. In fact, he was always on time for them. This was very worrisome in Aziraphale’s opinion. Aziraphale even-paced around his desk wondering what he should do. He didn’t know if he should call or go to Crowley’s, but then there was doubt that he was just overacting. It wouldn’t be the first time that he’s overreacted over something. 

He stopped and looked at the phone side-eyeing it. Then he opted to call Crowley after all. Aziraphale picked up the phone and dialed Crowley’s number. He stood their nervously while the phone buzzed. He waited for the familiar voice of Crowley, but it never came. A beep was heard, and then he was put to voicemail. Aziraphale sighed loudly and put the phone down, then dialed again. 

This went on for a long time. Any person in their right mind would have just given up at this point. Not Aziraphale though, he was worried, and this was extremely odd for Crowley. Aziraphale was sitting now after the all so many tries. His glasses were set on the table now, and he was now deciding on giving up. That was until his call finally went through. Aziraphale jumped when he heard his phone call getting picked up. That was when he heard Crowley's tired voice on the other end. 

“What?!” said Crowley agitated. 

Truth is that he hadn’t known who had been calling him so much. He’d been trying to sleep the whole time, but failing to do so. That was when the phone calls began. He was very annoyed by them but didn’t pick them up till now. Crowley actually thought that they were more telemarketers. They did usually call his phone a lot, which is why he usually ignored them. It was not normal for them to call fifty times in a row though, which is why he had finally answered the call. 

“Crowley, It’s me Aziraphale,” replied Aziraphale softly. 

Crowley’s annoyance in his tone was partially gone now. “Oh.” 

Aziraphale finally said something after the short silence. “Yes, uh, sorry to call you so much, but I wanted to make sure you were ok.” 

He heard Crowley scoff in the background. “I’m fine angel, what makes you so unsure?” 

Aziraphale bit his lip for a short moment not sure if he should say it or not. Then urgently he spits it out. 

“Well, you missed our lunch.”

Crowley was completely silent for a while. He sighed right after it sank in. Crowley had completely forgotten. “It’s alright that you missed it, but is everything alright?” Crowley didn’t reply to that too quickly. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Aziraphale barely believed that. “Really? Because you don’t sound all that good?” 

It was true, Crowley was doing a terrible job on hiding how horrible he sounded. His voice was almost a cackle. He was not going to admit to Aziraphale that he wasn’t doing so ok though. The last thing he would want would be to worry him. 

“I said that I’m fine.” groaned Crowley. 

Aziraphale sighed on the other end. “It doesn’t sound like it.” 

Crowley stayed quiet and still. Aziraphale grew worried from no response. “Look, just… why did you miss lunch? That’s all that I’m asking.” 

He lost his temper shortly, and said, “I was sleeping, sorry that I ‘overslept’ angel.” very smug.

Crowley decided to say that he overslept because he’d done it before. It was still a total lie though. Crowley hoped that Aziraphale would just nag at him and hang up at this point. He does not want Aziraphale to get involved in this mess. Much to his unfortune though, Aziraphale’s mind didn’t go straight to nagging. Instead, he was much more worried. Mostly because he figured out what was wrong with Crowley. Well sort of. 

“Crowley, are you having those nightmares again?” 

Bingo. He hit it right on the pot. Panic set in almost right away and Crowley’s lack of response told Aziraphale that he was right. “I’m coming over, and don’t you dare leave,” said Aziraphale. Crowley was going to argue, but before he could, Aziraphale had hung up his phone. He groaned and slammed his phone back. 

Aziraphale left right away when he hung up the phone. He quickly grabbed his coat and headed out the door. Not before locking it of course. By foot, he raced to roughly the other side of London. Meanwhile, his thoughts were just as raced. He thought that Crowley would have something like that under control by now, but apparently not. Aziraphale didn’t exactly know what the problem was. He didn’t know that it was affecting Crowley’s health as bad as it was. Then the thought of what he should do to help make its way through his thoughts. He had no clue what he would do. Aziraphale wasn’t exactly an expert in sleep. He’d only done it three times now. 

Finally, after some time, Aziraphale had made it to the building where Crowley’s flat was. Crowley looked through his blinds and saw the familiar angel make his way across the street to the building. After a groan, he snapped the blinds back and drifted back to the darkness of the room. 

When Aziraphale made it to the entrance of the building, he hadn’t realized that he had to be buzzed in. Knowing that Crowley would probably deny him in, he miracled the door open. Once in, he made his way to the elevator, which he later found out was out of order. Aziraphale groaned and headed over to the stairs. He was not going to enjoy this at all. 

Crowley was about on the fourth level, which meant that Aziraphale would be climbing a lot of stairs. And climb is what he did. Sure he was very out of breath, but that didn’t stop him. Soon enough, he was finally at the fourth level and was going down the hallway. After scanning the various numbers, he finally found Crowleys. He stopped at the door and finally caught his breath. When he was done, he straightened back up. 

He was about to knock when he realized the doorbell. Then he eternally groaned when he saw it. “Why does everything have to be snake themed with him?... Oh right.” thought Aziraphale. He pushed the buzzer, and listen as he heard feet shuffle towards the door. Then he heard various locks undone, followed by the sound of the door opening. Crowley slowly opened the door being all too weak. Aziraphale’s heart almost leaped out of his chest when he saw the state of Crowley. 

Through the dim lighting of the hallway, he saw how unhealthy Crowley looked. His eyes had been completely strained, and there were dark circles under them. When Aziraphale gave him a once over, he also saw that Crowley had been a lot skinnier. 

Aziraphale’s frown deepened “Crowley…”

Crowley turned his head and looked down. He turned and went into his flat right after. Aziraphale followed and hung his coat and hat upon the small rack by the door. He watched as Crowley sauntered over to his sofa, and flopped down on it. Aziraphale walked over to him almost right after. That was when he saw around the apartment. It was awfully dull. Not at all what it was like the last time he visited Crowley here. 

In fact, he had only been to Crowley’s place only a couple times. Mostly for emergencies really. It still had a welcoming feel to it that never went away to it though, which was almost odd. Aziraphale made it to the other couch across from Crowley and sat down. He stared at Crowley who was sipping on what seemed to be some strong whiskey. Crowley gulped a slug of it and sat it down. He stared back at Aziraphale right after. 

“You look absolutely horrid.”

“I know,” replied Crowley. 

Aziraphale sighed, leaned over, and put his hand over Crowley’s. “Please tell me what’s wrong.” 

Crowley lightly squeezed Aziraphale’s hand then took it and placed it back to Aziraphale’s lap. “I can’t get much of any sleep anymore.” 

Aziraphale nodded his head, motioning for Crowley to continue. “Well no sleep actually... haven’t really had it. Not even since the start of the whole near end of the world thing. It’s because of these damn nightmares I keep getting. They are there whenever I close my eyes…. I don’t know what to do.” Crowley stopped right there and put his hands up to his face. Aziraphale watched concerned. 

“What happens in these nightmares if I may get to ask?” 

Crowley shook his head. “They’re not… I can’t.” 

He struggled to find any words. Aziraphale shook his hand saying that he didn’t have to explain. He didn’t want Crowley to think of them since they obviously bothered them. 

“Look, I’m here to help… No matter if you like it or not, I’m going to help you,” said Aziraphale. 

“And how are you going to do that?” asked Crowley bitterly. 

On the way there, Aziraphale did think of something that could help, though it did go against the arrangement. It’s said that angels can soothe other’s from pain if they take it on directly. That means that it would somewhat hurt Aziraphale in the process if he did this. Crowley knew what Aziraphale was thinking when he didn’t reply. “No… You know you can’t. Besides, it’s against the arrangement!” Aziraphale looked at Crowley steadily. “It’ll hurt you… and I don’t want that.” blurted out Crowley. 

Sweetly, Aziraphale replied with, “I’ll be fine.” 

Crowley sighed and looked back at Aziraphale with eye contact. “Fine, but promise that you’ll stop if it gets too much, ok?” 

He nodded his head. That seemed to be enough for Crowley. He shot up and began walking towards his bedroom. Aziraphale followed closely behind. They entered through another hallway that seemed even darker. Crowley on the way there had stumbled due to his weakness. He fell to the side of the wall, and luckily caught himself. Slowly he inched his way up back to his feet. That was until something changed. 

Out of nowhere he was being lifted up from the ground. Confused, he looked everywhere around till he finally pieced it together. His eyes locked with Aziraphale’s instantly. His yellow eyes widened, along with the narrow pupils that had just slightly dilated. Aziraphale’s pale blue eyes shone back nonetheless in the dark too. Instead of protesting though, Crowley let Aziraphale carry him to his bedroom. 

Aziraphale made it to the door of his bedroom and opened it. The bed was fairly simple except for the silk sheets and canopy that it had. Aziraphale creaked over the hardwood floor and placed Crowley on his bed very carefully. Crowley moved and laid his head on his pillow. Then hesitantly, Aziraphale climbed onto the bed. The thing about how this worked though, is that both people had to be making some sort of skin contact. Didn’t matter how, but it usually was done with holding hands. Aziraphale laid on his back and placed his left hand on top of Crowley’s right. Crowley though laced his fingers through Aziraphale’s. Aziraphale was surprised but tried to not pay too much attention to it. 

“So what do I do now?” asked Crowley. 

“Now you try and sleep.” answered Aziraphale. 

Crowley gave a sigh and fell asleep very slowly. Now all that was left was to left. And wait was exactly what Aziraphale did. What he did not expect though was that he too had fallen asleep. That was when it all really started. 

Aziraphale, being asleep, opened his eyes into a dream. It was very odd being self-conscious in a dream, but as he looked around, he found out that it wasn’t his. When he finally began to look around, he soon found out where he was. It was hell. He hadn't been there, no, but the descriptions did set an idea of what it looked like. That was when the nightmare part finally began to settle in. 

In the middle of what seemed to be an open red setting was Crowley. Aziraphale’s heart sunk ten times when he finally got the sight. Crowley was completely battered up, with gashes so deep that any person would have died by now. Not only that but he was chained up with heavy iron that gave welts on his skin. That wasn’t it either, his wings had been out too, but had been become a bloody tattered mess. Aziraphale felt like throwing up right then. Slowly, he stumbled towards Crowley. He stood in front of him trying to look for anything to help Crowley. Crowley finally looked up, but with eyes of fear. Aziraphale tried to touch Crowley, but his hand vanished right through him. 

This meant that Crowley couldn’t sense him in any way in this dream. Crowley began thrashing around in the chains, still looking up in fear. That was when Aziraphale finally turned and saw what Crowley had been seeing. Out in front of them was, well Aziraphale, but one of Crowley's imaginations. He was pinned up on a tall pole, but that wasn’t all. Aziraphale’s wings that were out while being pinned against the pole, had two very similar chains on the base of them. Crowley began crying out, and screaming, all while his eyes watched on. 

The chains began to pull, and with that, the wings began to be torn. Blood soon began to seep through the feathers. The once beautiful white feathers were now stained with a crimson red. All that could be heard now was the screams of the angel and the echoing tearing of the wings. Aziraphale knelt next to Crowley and watched in the same horror. Dream Aziraphale cried and whaled out in pain. Tears began to flow from Crowley's eyes as he watched on in horror. They had a certain fire that seemed to be in them. Aziraphale hugged onto Crowley and nestled his face into him. As Crowley screamed his name out loud, a very bright light began to glow from Aziraphale. Soon it engulfed the whole scene wiping everything from existence. That was when Aziraphale felt all the pain. It flooded through him with ease. 

It stung and made Aziraphale cry. Now the setting was white as snow, and the only person there was Aziraphale. The pain was so immense that his wings unfolded in this abyss setting. Now the pain was directly set on his wings, that felt like they were being torn from his own body. Aziraphale cried out but insured it all for Crowley. Then when it seemed at it’s worse, it faded away. Aziraphale shot up awake and sat up. He clutched at the side of the bed, and Crowley’s hand. When he finally settled in, he saw a sleeping Crowley who was sound asleep. Aziraphale gave him a sweet smile and settled back into the bed. He settled back into a more comfortable sleep right after without any pain or thought. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next morning is quiet and calm, but things change when one thing leads to another.

The two of them had been asleep for more than twenty-four hours now. Neither of them stirred for a long, long time. Crowley was the first to wake up actually. He sat up on the bed and rubbed his eyes with his left. Then he went to get up when his right arm felt a tug. Crowley turned his head immediately. Aziraphale hadn’t let go of his hand once. He starred at Aziraphale, who was sleeping soundlessly, for a while before reaching over and plucking his fingers from the entwined hand-holding. 

Now with his free hand, he turned and stood upon the cold hard floor. With a snap of his fingers, he was dressed in his usual attire. After that, he left the room quietly. Aziraphale meanwhile stayed asleep. He didn’t quite stir till it was half-past eight in the morning. And when that happened, he slowly opened his eyes blinking in between. When he eyes adjusted he felt a bit panicked at first. He didn’t know where he was, nor who he was for a short moment. Almost completely white-knuckled, he clasped the silk bed sheets until his mind caught up. 

“Oh.” 

He rubbed his eyes and sat up to look around. The room was still dreadfully dark. Still, he got up and put his shoes on. When they were laced up, he made his way out of the room. That was when the smell of breakfast caught his attention. Aziraphale confused stood in the doorway for a while. “Crowley?” asked Aziraphale puzzled. He had no clue where he was. 

“In here,” responded Aziraphale. Aziraphale walked down the hallway back to the living room. Crowley wasn’t in the living room but was instead in the kitchen which was a little off ways in the corner. Aziraphale crept up on a busy Crowley. He now stood just behind him. 

Aziraphale then asked, “Whatcha making?” 

Crowley replied right when Aziraphale walked next to him and saw. “Crepes Angel. Thought you would like to have em.” 

“Oh, that’s quite nice,” said Aziraphale with a warm smile. 

He was actually really looking forward to the crepes. That and Crowley’s cooking, he hadn’t had it in years now. It was always a special occasion, that had been rarely done. Aziraphale continued to watch as Crowley expertly made the crepes. When he was done, Crowley, slid them onto two plates and added the jelly and syrup. Aziraphale even helped him take the plates out to the coffee table in the living room. Crowley with his hands-free brought the cups of coffee out with him too. Aziraphale sat down on the sofa and started to eat his plate of crepes. Crowley sat down shortly after and slid Aziraphale his cup of coffee. 

Crowley even went out of his way to make Aziraphale’s coffee how he liked it. That meant that he had to put in about almost eight sugar cubes in, Including dousing it with tons of cream. Crowley, on the other hand, made his coffee black. Aziraphale had once even commented on the crudeness of not adding sugar, but that didn’t seem to change Crowley’s mind. 

They ate for the remaining breakfast until breakfast soon turned into lunch. Both of them hadn’t spoken at all though. Nothing about anything, not even what happened the night before. Well not yet at least. Crowley was the one who broke the silence first. He put down his finished plate, and half-empty coffee down on the table then sat straight and looked at Aziraphale. Aziraphale stopped mid-sip and looked back at Crowley caught off guard. He put the cup down and looked back at Crowley. 

“I’m… sorry for missing our lunch.” 

“No, no, it’s fine. I mean jeez, you couldn’t even if you wanted to,” replied Aziraphale. 

Crowley gave a half chuckle then sighed. “Thanks.” 

Aziraphale tilted his head puzzled. “For what?”

“For helping me, you didn’t have to do that,” answered Crowley. 

In response, Aziraphale gave another warm smile at Crowley. “You're my friend Crowley, I would do anything for you.” 

Crowley’s expression seemed to shift ever so slightly. Then it was back to regular, but Aziraphale had still noticed of course. That was when his eyes landed on something just above Crowley's right shoulder. He moved his head and let his eyes focus on it. Crowley turned his head back to see what Aziraphale was staring at. It was his grand piano that he kept in his flat. “Do you still play?” asked Aziraphale sweetly. 

He shook his head no. “Haven’t in a while. Not since… well, you know.” 

“Yeah,” replied Aziraphale who’s thought’s mingled back to the last time Crowley played. 

That was another thing about Crowley. He had also been able to play the piano, but that was mostly because it was something to do. Not only that, but he had always been infatuated with music. He loved how humans came up with such dazzling music. Crowley also marveled at how it constantly changed. Still, he hadn’t played piano in such a long, long time. Not since the nineteen forties, where… well, it’s best not to go into. That’s a whole story on its own that’ll be told later. 

“I do love your playing, you were always better at it than me,” said Aziraphale. 

Crowley laughed softly. “All you need is practice.” 

Aziraphale groaned. “You tell me that all the time, and that’s not the problem. I just understand it. All of the notes are too fast for my fat fingers to play.” 

“That’s not true, and you know it.” 

He mumbled to himself knowing that Crowley was somewhat right. Aziraphale sipped the last of coffee right after the small bickering. Putting his cup down, he stretched faintly and settled more into the couch. Crowley spoke again right after this. “You didn’t get to hurt did you?” Aziraphale shot up suddenly confused. 

“Eh?”

“With the whole sleep thing last night I mean?” stated Crowley. 

Aziraphale’s lips frowned just a tad. Memories of Crowley’s dream made their way into his thoughts. And then there was the pain that he seemed to remember. The spot where his wings would be seemed to ache out of nowhere. Aziraphale nodded his head to clear the thoughts. 

“No... not at all dear,” said Aziraphale who was lying through his teeth. 

It did hurt, but he was not going to tell Crowley. Crowley frowned almost like he knew. Aziraphale couldn’t stop thinking about it anymore. His thoughts were clouded completely with it. Part of him couldn’t believe that Crowley was dreaming stuff like that. That and the main nightmare was about him, it wasn’t even about Crowley really. 

“Aziraphale.” 

Aziraphale looked up and saw the concern on Crowley’s face. He also noticed the hand that was laid over his. 

“What?” asked Aziraphale. 

Crowley made full eye contact with him still. “Your crying.” 

His heart sank immediately. He moved his left hand up to touch his face, and Crowley was right, he was crying the whole time. Aziraphale stood up right away, taking his hand back from Crowley, and also turning his back to him. He started wiping his tears away while his hands trembled. That was when he felt arms wrap around him into a comforting hug. Aziraphale shocked turned his head to the left to see it was Crowley. 

“C-Crowley, what are you doing! I said I’m fine!” shouted Aziraphale. 

The hug around him tightened around him slightly. “No your not… Aziraphale…”

His voice was cold yet soothing somehow. Aziraphale couldn’t stop his little sobs now. 

“Just… Why?” said Aziraphale just above a whisper. 

“Why what?” responded Crowley. 

Aziraphale became tenser, and tears began to flow more. “Why is it that you cried over me? You were fairly injured...so… why was it that you only screamed in pain over me? 

Crowley tightened the hug more, and this time leaned more so he was directly by Aziraphale’s ear. “Why you say? Because… because you are the only thing I truly care about. To see you gone, would tear me in half more than my own self. Even I know that, which is why it is one of my biggest fears, which is to lose you. Without you, life has no meaning.” 

Aziraphale stopped crying, and instead stood their surprised. He didn’t expect that as an answer at all. “Why though, I am merely nothing…” dragged Aziraphale. 

“You are everything.” 

He stayed still again. “Crowley…” 

Crowley leaned in more closely where his lips were right behind Aziraphale’s ear’s now. “I love you Aziraphale, that’s why.” 

Aziraphale’s eyes were blown wide completely now. His hand’s hesitantly roamed over Crowley’s arms and tugged them off of him. He walked away from Crowley, with his back still to him. Aziraphale sighed shakingly, letting his shoulder falter down. 

“I’m sorry.” 

There was a sound of a snap, and just like that, Aziraphale was nowhere to be seen. Crowley stood there completely surprised and shocked. Aziraphale, on the other hand, had miracled himself back into his shop. His feet creaked on the wood floors right when he got there. After finding himself in his shop that was still closed, he finally let himself crumble. Slowly, he settled down onto the hard floor. He hugged his knees and put his face between them before opting to run his hands through his hair. Without saying a word, he wept and wept until there were tear streaks on his face. All alone in his shop, Aziraphale wept being utterly confused. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crowley grows worried, while Aziraphale shuts himself away. Then, as an idea, Aziraphale takes a train ride to a certain cottage to getaway. Not before thinking about a past train ride somewhere though. (WW2 flashback)

Both were in a terrible state of being. Crowley hadn’t taken anything well, and neither had Aziraphale. At this point, there were a lot of questions that were running through both of their minds. Crowley had opted to drink a lot, and Aziraphale just crying a whole lot. Both had their faults right now. Crowley opted to drink himself almost dead, while Aziraphale opted to shut himself off from everyone else. 

Crowley had still been very concerned for Aziraphale though, as much as he was heartbroken of course. Aziraphale was still in very deep denial. He couldn’t believe that Crowley could ever love him. Can you blame him though? From what he’s been taught since the first falling, is that demons cannot lie. So, is it so hard to believe? 

He still very much overreacted in hindsight. Crowley was still somewhat in the wrong though, he did spring it on Aziraphale. Can’t completely wrong him though, anyone would get tired of waiting for six thousand years. Then there was that line, “you go too fast for me.” which had held him back another couple decades. It still haunted Crowley at this point, so much that it ran through his head over and over. Had he really gone too fast again for his dear Aziraphale? That’s what he had been thinking while drinking. 

Aziraphale, meanwhile, was locked up in his shop still. He had the blinds closed, and the door locked with the open sign flipped over. Somehow, in his state of being, he was able to at least do some reorganization in the book shop. He found it somewhat relaxing or calming, but in truth, all it did was keep his mind off of things. It didn’t keep all of his thoughts in check though, they did stray back to Crowley in some shape or form. 

After trying to ignore it for so long, he finally let into thinking about what had just happened. In sorrow, he stopped and stooped forward onto a bookshelf silently weeping. That was when he heard a tiny knock on his door. His attention went to the door immediately, and that was when he saw the slot open. He quickly rushed over out of view and listened to anything new. A small voice then spoke. 

“Mr. Fell?” asked the person. 

Aziraphale recognized the voice immediately. It was that very smart girl, Emily, that he’d met just a couple days ago. “It’s me, Emily.” Aziraphale stayed where he was and didn’t reply. She waited for an answer and didn’t get one. “I'm just going to put the book through the slot, If your there, I’d like to thank you for the book!” said Emily. The book was then heard being slid through, and hitting the floor of the shop. Faint footsteps could be heard going down the stairs right after. Aziraphale went out of hiding and began to walk towards the door. He leaned over and picked up the book with a faint smile. 

He looked at the book cover just briefly before walking over and reshelving it back into place. Just then, he got an idea. He should take a trip down to the cottage that he owns down south. Sure he hadn’t been there in forever, but it was still there. He’d actually only bought it in case he ever needed to just get away. And a getaway is exactly what he needed right now. 

Almost right away he began to pack something. Then when that was done, he was rushing over to the train station where he miracled a ticket. He was just a smidge from being late too, but luckily he had caught it right before it left. The train began to move when he stepped into the dining car. Luckily he knew to brace himself. When it became more steady, he moved to the passenger car and found his spot. Almost right away he was asked for his ticket, which he gave, and then was handed back. 

He took out a book to start reading right away. The book had an interesting plot, but his thoughts drifted when he got to the countryside scenery. He placed the book down and looked out at the lush green scenery that they went by. His thoughts began to drift more when he thought about another very different train ride. 

It had been nineteen thirty-six, the beginning of world war two. About three years before it really began with England, and about two more before the United States joined in. Aziraphale had been on his way to Germany. For a reason not known just yet. He had been on a train ride there though. He’d gone to France and booked the ride from there. He wasn’t stopped and checked till he entered the other country though. France wouldn’t be taken until another four years from then. 

After being stopped at the beginning, the ride was much better from thereon. So much, that Aziraphale had even dinner a bit until he went back to his sleeper cabin, which was when he heard muffled. screaming next to his cabin than a sudden thudding sound. Someone sounded like they were being literally murdered, but no one else seemed to notice. Not except for Aziraphale though. Aziraphale being deathly concerned, opened the unlocked neighboring cabin immediately. What he saw was very surprising. 

“Crowley!” shrieked Aziraphale. 

Crowley who had been strangling a man looked up and was just as surprised as Aziraphale was. “Angel?” 

They stared at each other before Aziraphale glanced between what Crowley had been doing. The man that Crowley had been strangling had been wearing a german uniform. Not German, but Nazi really. The man looked up at Aziraphale with pleading eyes. Aziraphale gave the man a glare back, then closed the door behind him, and closed the blinds. Before Aziraphale turned back around, the man had already been dead. 

Crowley sat up and caught his breath. Then he looked at Aziraphale and finally spoke again. “What are you doing here?” 

“I could ask you the same thing!” said Aziraphale obviously distressed about the current situation. 

Crowley shrugged. “Honestly, what are you thinking killing an officer without the blinds even being pulled?” said Aziraphale. Crowley gave a puzzled look. He didn’t think he’d see this side of Aziraphale. 

“You just saw me strangle a man, and your nagging me for not closing the blinds? I thought that you’d be mortified” said Crowley. 

Aziraphale sat down at the seat across from Crowley. “Yes, and no… Those scum deserve to die.” 

He stayed quiet in complete shock. For an angel to wish the death of anyone would be surprising. “Sorry… I just really don’t like them is all.” said Aziraphale after a moment of silence. 

“No, no, it’s completely fine… Just didn’t expect you to...well you know.” 

Aziraphale said a small yeah and glanced at the body. “What are you going to do with the body?” 

He scratched his head and shrugged. “Didn’t really think that far.” 

Aziraphale groaned and in a snap of his fingers, the body was gone. “Come on, we're going back to my cabin. 

They did just that. Crowley followed Aziraphale back to his cabin and sat across from him. “So, where are you going?” asked Aziraphale. He had sat down right when he asked it. Crowley answered when Aziraphale was able to make eye contact with him again. 

“Berlin, what about you?”

Aziraphale answered. “Same.” 

Crowley teased him right after. “Getting some new books then I suppose.”

Aziraphale shook his head no. “I guess I’m just trying to do my part in this mess. I’ve got news about a family stuck in Berlin.” 

“Oh,” replied Crowley. 

He then watched as Aziraphale's knuckles clenched at his sides. That was extremely odd, heck the whole way Aziraphale was acting is odd. He watched as Aziraphale stopped right after. That was when he finally spoke. 

“They’re killing them, Crowley… for no reason at all…” 

Tears began to cloud the angel’s eyes almost right after. Crowley leaned over and placed his hand on Aziraphale’s. His eyes shot open right away. He looked at Crowley confused. “What… what are you doing here then?” choked out Aziraphale. Crowley withdrew and placed his hand back by his side. 

“I’m just trying to do whatever is right,” stated Crowley. 

Aziraphale finally smiled, and that made Crowley’s heart flutter. Not like Aziraphale had any clue though. By the turn of events, it looks like Crowley and Aziraphale will be teaming up for now. That seemed to be just fine for the two of them. 

On the way there, Aziraphale got a good look of Crowley’s new appearance. He had been wearing a nice black suit with a red tie, although it was barely seen as he had been wearing a black trenchcoat. Not only that, but he was wearing a pair of black shoes that seemed to reflect the light back. His hair had also been styled differently. It was slick with a slight wave to it. Aziraphale would never admit to it out loud, but he really did enjoy the way Crowley styled his hair. 

Aziraphale, on the other hand, wore his usually colored clothing, but it still had been in nineteen-thirties attire. His hair had barely changed, but that’s expected. Surprisingly though, he hadn’t been wearing white-colored shoes, but instead black ones. They were slip on’s though. Most likely Italian if anything. Crowley noticed this, and almost laughed about how Aziraphale still had to act posh no matter what. 

By this time, they had finally reached Berlin. Aziraphale was eager to finally get off of a stuffy train, and get to work. Crowley followed behind no asking any questions until they stood at an abandoned home in the middle of the night. 

“Is this the place?” asked Crowley. 

Aziraphale nodded his head and opened the door. He walked in and started to look around it. It had been abandoned alright, but that didn’t stop Aziraphale. Almost as he knew, he went into the office room of the house and moved a very heavy desk out of the way to reveal a hidden door. Crowley was surprised, but let Aziraphale carry on. Aziraphale opened the door to reveal a staircase that leads down. He went down it with Crowley following shortly after. When he was finally down it, it had lead to a fully open room. He looked around but stopped when he heard the sound of a gun being cocked. A young woman stood in front of him with a Browning Hi-Power pointed to his face. 

He then realized a gaggle of kids that were behind her. Then in a very thick German accent, she asked who he was. He replied almost immediately with his hands up. 

“Dear, I’m from the resistance, I mean you no harm.” 

She recognized the English right away and looked at him confused. Then that was when Crowley came in on the wrong time. The gun was pointed at him right then. 

“Then what about him?” asked the girl in sudden English. 

“He’s a friend,” replied Aziraphale. 

She huffed then spoke again. “Then what’s up with all the black, he bloody looks like one of them.” 

“I can assure you I am not,” said Crowley with a stare. 

After hearing Crowley’s accent, she dropped the gun and sighed. 

“If we can, can we get a move on, It won't be long till the information about you leaks.” 

She nodded, then told the children behind her to pack up. Quickly, they started to flee the house, and right on time too. They watched as a swarm of officers overtook the abandoned house. 

They all ran through the dark mudded streets with whistles being heard blown. Lights were then shone towards their way. That was when of the small girls tripped. Aziraphale quickly helped her up and picked her up. They continued running until most of them lost their breath. 

“We’ll never make it,” stated Crowley who was catching his breath too. 

Aziraphale replied. “I know.” 

That was when Crowley spot a perfectly brand new Opel Olympia. He pointed towards it and had all the kids run to it. Crowley miracled the door’s unlocked, including making it start. Luckily everyone was too worried about the upcoming police to notice. Aziraphale meanwhile, was glaring at Crowley for stealing somebody's car. That passed soon after though. 

Crowley floored it, and they were off on the streets of Berlin. Aziraphale gave him instructions on where to go right after. They stopped at a graveyard of all places. Before Crowley could ask questions, Aziraphale was using the kids out and leading them towards a tomb. Not before talking to Crowley one last time though. 

“I’ll be leading them through a secret tunnel, sadly, I don’t think you can come with, can you get rid of the car?”

Crowley nodded his head yes. “See you on the flipside then.” 

Then he was off away from the graveyard in the flash. Aziraphale spent the rest of the night going through a tunnel helping the small Jewish family escape to freedom. And that is basically the end of the story. Aziraphale after the flashback to it eventually went back to reading. He didn’t realize that he still thought of Crowley though. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The train stops, and Aziraphale is left to travel to his cottage. When he arrives, he comes across some memories that he thought that he'd forgotten. (Masquerade flashback)

The train ride was over in a matter of minutes, or at least that’s how Aziraphale thought it was. He always seemed to lose track when he began to read something. It was something that he’d always done. Hell, he could read for days straight and not even realize it. That was somewhat understandable though, he didn’t really need to keep track of time. Just like any immortal being really. 

When the train finally stopped, Aziraphale put the book down and grabbed his suitcase down. Then, in the shuffle of people, he left the train. The train station was oddly quiet, but that didn’t stop him. He made his way to a taxi almost immediately after exiting the station. The ride there was sweet and simple, and Aziraphale was sure to tip the taxi driver nicely. As the driver left, Aziraphale stood on the old dirt road. In front of him was a simple gate that hadn’t been opened in who knows how long. 

Taking his bag in one hand, he fished through his pocket to find the key to unlock the gate. He found it and unlocked the gate right after. The gate opened with an unsettling creak, but that was just because of how old and rusted it was. Aziraphale locked it right after and made it so that no one could enter after him. Then with it secured, he made his way down the narrow overgrown path to where the cottage was. 

As he walked, he noticed how green everything had been. It surely got a lot of rain. The trees were dark green and brown, meanwhile, the grass was a lighter green altogether. Even the dew from the early morning had still clung to the leaves and grass. That was when Aziraphale finally came around to see the cottage. Hidden in the foliage of trees and high grass was a lonely plain cottage. It did seem to be just a tad bit run down though, but that was expected. 

When Aziraphale got up the porch, he noticed that some of the steps had been a little rotted. He was going to fix that later on, for now he had to see the inside. He opened the door with another key and realized that the inside hadn’t been bad at all. A couple of water stains where water from rain seeped through, but that was it. He sat his bag down on the table by the sofa. From there on he began to unpack the various things including the books that he packed. He set them on a small bookcase that already had some dust-covered books on them. 

He began to undust them when something fell on the ground. Noticing it, he put the stack of books he’d been carrying down to pick it up. When he picked it up, he realized it was a record. He dusted it over with his hand and saw what kind of record it was. To his surprise, it was classical. To his side, he remembered the record player, which he walked over to right after. Cleaning it just a tad bit, he put in the record and cranked it. Then he set the stylus on it, and music filled the cottage instantly. Aziraphale meanwhile, stood there completely still. 

His eyes were wide open in shock, but also somewhat fear somehow. He hadn’t listened to this song in ages, and there’s a reason why. Mostly because it resonated with the last time Crowley had ever played the piano. The song was Love’s Sorrow, also known as Liebeslied, by Fritz Kreisler. It had a keen effect on Aziraphale, mostly because of the memory behind Crowley playing it. That’s a whole story to be told. 

It had been the very early nineteen hundreds when this happened. Aziraphale had gotten a letter that had asked his attendance at a live piano playing. He was confused as there was no name under who gave him the ticket, nor who was playing. So, instead of letting a perfectly good ticket to see a live concert go to waste, he went. It was surprisingly very crowded with a ton of different people. Aziraphale being curious to who it could be overheard some people who had been talking. 

One lady in an overly lacy dress said, “Any news on the unknown pianist?” 

The lady next to her shook her head no. “No, none, but I heard he’s a professional, goes by the letter C, or something like that.” 

Aziraphale at the time found it odd but still took his seat in his personal booth. Whoever it was, was generous enough to give him a whole private booth to himself. Aziraphale’s suspicions began to grow large, but they were dismissed when the lights began to fade. That was when the mysterious performer took his steep out onto the stage. That was also when Aziraphale nearly fainted from surprise and shock. 

It was Crowley of all people. Aziraphale shifted in his seat when he saw Crowley take a bow just before sitting at the piano. Before completely standing up straight again though, Crowley gave a small glance at Aziraphale with a somewhat toothy smile. Once up again, Crowley didn’t look at Aziraphale a single time after that. He walked over and finally took his place at the piano, then set his hands just a tad over the keys.

In an instant, the first notes were played. The song started off sad, and it didn’t take Aziraphale very long to realize what song it had been. It was Love’s Sorrow of course. At that time, it had been just published, but also falsely put under the wrong name of the composer. It had been Kreisler, yet been put under as one of Lanner’s. Aziraphale knew the truth, just as much as Crowley had. In truth, Aziraphale had known at Kreisler at some point and was there as he made Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen. Crowley, on the other hand, knew it because he’d been asked to play it by Kreisler when he had first composed the three pieces. 

The song continued though, and Aziraphale grew to love the song more and more. Not only that, but it made him sad in a way he had never thought it would. Somehow, Crowley’s playing evoked such emotion, that it was easy to get lost in it. With an onslaught of notes, he quickly finished. He sat on the stool and turned his head to watch the various cheers. Then his eyes flashed up to Aziraphale, who had forgotten to clap. He was so much in shock, that he stayed completely still. It wasn’t until he noticed Crowley stare at him was when he began clapping. That was when Crowley moved onto the second which was Love’s Joy. Then it was on to the last one which was Lovely Rosemary. It was all very lovely until the very end of it all. 

Aziraphale very much enjoyed it. He had never heard of anything played so beautifully. Crowley seemed to enjoy it just as much too. He mostly likes the attention of it all, especially Aziraphale’s attention. He hadn’t expected to see Aziraphale in the first place, so he was more than beaming during the performance. Of course, he knew that it was because of him not mentioning his name though. He knew that Aziraphale would have to come because the idea of not knowing who sent the invitation would drive him to come. 

Back to Aziraphale, he hadn’t quite moved in the cottage yet. He listened to the familiar piece, that he loved because of Crowley. But it had changed because of the current event. Everything that was Crowley related made him more and more upset. Then, as the song continued, he realized how ironic Crowley could be. “Of all things, he played love’s sorrow…” thought Aziraphale as he stood there listening. He shortly laughed and opted to finally sit down. 

While this happened, a worrisome demon called on the phone. Repeatedly. He had been calling Aziraphale’s shop for an hour straight. There were no answers to any of them, and that meant that something was wrong, even for Crowley. The angel would still answer, even if he was in a pit of despair. So, with this in mind, you can well imagine why Crowley was worried. After one last time, he slammed the phone down and took his car keys. He rushed out of his flat and started the Bentley. 

With no answers to the phone, Crowley drove to Aziraphale’s shop for an answer. On the way, he prepared himself for the worst. That wouldn’t happen at all though, but it’s not like he knew. He pulled up to the side of the shop and walked up to the shop doors. Crowley tried to look through the blinds, but couldn’t see anything. He tried the door and was rewarded with no entry. Then he knocked on the door multiple times but was given no answer. 

Frustrated, he used a miracle to unlock the doors. He busted through them when they were finally unlocked. He looked around and found noone at all. Yelling Aziraphale’s name out loud, he got no response. It was awfully like when the shop burned down. At this realization, Crowley chilled at the thought. Luckily, when he was snooping around, he found a small card on a table that had been forgotten to be hanged up. The card read, “Sorry, closed for a small vacation, will be back soon.” Aziraphale had completely forgotten to hang it up before he left. 

The next question though, was, where did he go. Crowley thought on it for a while, till he remembered the cottage that Aziraphale had talked about buying in the fifties. Crowley rushed out of the shop and miracled the doors closed and locked. Then, he was off going to where Aziraphale was. 

Meanwhile, Aziraphale had completely forgotten about cleaning around the house. He was now drinking and enjoying listening to music. With the record player booming, Aziraphale got more and more drunk. Then one thing led to another, and he was thinking about Crowley again. He had been sad at the beginning of it, but it loosely became more pleasant. Aziraphale had still been confused because of everything though. Crowley confessing to him was very confusing. 

It made him upset, but it also had a warm effect on him. His thoughts continued to drift to more different things. “I wonder what it would be like to kiss him,” said Aziraphale out loud. He wasn’t thinking at all at this point. Then he questioned further on what it was like to even kissed. 

That was when his thoughts shifted to the one time he had been kissed. It was very early in the victorian era, and Aziraphale had been invited to one of the biggest ball’s in London at the time. He had been quite keen ongoing, as he was invited to going. Crowley meanwhile, was too invited. He didn’t tell Aziraphale this though, as he wanted to keep his identity anonymous. And the reason why he wanted to keep is anonymous was because it was a masquerade ball. 

Aziraphale was very excited because of it being a masquerade, he’d even had his outfit specifically made. He wouldn’t be going as anything specific though, it was just a getup with a mask really. Crowley meanwhile, was going as something specifically. 

On the way there, Aziraphale had been somewhat nervous, he heard that almost half of London would be coming. And it’s true, about half of London at the time did come. His thoughts were wiped when he arrived at the party though. He opened his carriage door and set his feet on the cobbled streets. Then, with the group of people streaming in through the front door, he made it into the ball. 

The time of the ball had been set quite late. It was nearing midnight already, but that didn’t stop anybody from coming. Through the dark maze of the ballroom, Aziraphale made his way to the food table where he ate some of the shrimps and other stuff. Crowley meanwhile, had just entered the room and was practically amazed at the swarm of people. That was when he realized a person in the corner of the huge ballroom, tucked away from everyone else. Right away he knew it was Aziraphale.

His white tufted hair could be seen a mile away, and not to mention the very white outfit. It was white and silver, along with the mask too which had been fairly simple. He began to walk up to Aziraphale right away. If anything, he was going to ask him for a dance. Not only that, he knew that Aziraphale wouldn’t be able to recognize him, and not recognize him is what Aziraphale did. 

Aziraphale was in shock when he felt a hand on his. He turned his head immediately to the perpetrator. The man in front of him had a red devil mask on, and wore an outfit that accommodated the colors of red and black. This was obviously Crowley of course, but Aziraphale was completely clueless. Aziraphale drew his hand back, and the man, not saying a word, bowed to him. Another thing to note is that Aziraphale could not see Crowley’s eyes, as the eye holes were covered by a black cloth, that only Crowley could see out of. 

“What are you-?” asked Aziraphale confused. 

The man in front of him still bowed to him, but now put his hand out. Aziraphale at this point figured out that he would not talk. “Oh. You wish to dance?” asked Aziraphale. The person straightened a bit and nodded his head. Aziraphale sighed and took his hand. Right then he was flung forward into the man and was taken off to a waltz. 

Step by step waltzed through the song. Whoever he was, he was surely talented. If only Aziraphale had known who it was. Crowley in the middle of dancing had even made Aziraphale laugh and smile. It made his heartbeat incredibly fast until he sped up the dancing again. This went on for the whole night. That was until Aziraphale had finally gotten tired. He dragged off the masked man outside with him to get some fresh air. 

Finally able to breathe, he slumped over the balcony and looked out onto the night sky. “They are beautiful, are they not? They remind me of a friend.” He said the person next to him. He was now next to Aziraphale looking at him. “Still won't talk will you?” asked Aziraphale. Crowley nodded in the mask. Aziraphale sighed sweetly, and continued looking. That was when Crowley moved his hand on top of his. Aziraphale looked back with endearing eyes. Crowley moved forward until he and Aziraphale were inches apart. 

With his right hand, he lifted just a tad of his mask up. That was when he went and kissed Aziraphale. Aziraphale surprised stood, and didn’t move. It wasn’t until Crowley moved his hands by his hips is when he finally moved. He relaxed and melted into the kiss. They stayed like that until Aziraphale felt the other man part the kiss. By the time he opened his eyes, the man in front of him had disappeared. 

Aziraphale hummed at the thought of the memory now. He still hadn’t known who it was, and he thought that he would never still. In the cottage, he poured himself another glass of vintage wine and sat back in the sofa. Small raindrops had begun to drip on the window now. “Oh?” said Aziraphale. He looked at the small drops until it became apparent that it was going to rain. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the final chapter of the story, where everything finally comes to a simple conclusion.

A storm had set in as the night grew longer. There had even been lightning and thunder. If anyone could comment on it, they’d probably say it was Armageddon all over. The sky had been dark blue at the time. That could be barely seen with all the grey clouds though. The rain had been hard too, it began to come down very violently. If it had been any colder, it would have been hailing. 

Aziraphale during this storm had still been in his cottage drinking himself drunk. He had been laying on the sofa still listening to the different albums that he had on hand. Luckily, he had noticed the constant dripping from the ceiling and had miracled a couple of pots under where it had leaked. If he wasn’t so intoxicated, he would have just miracled the leaks fixed. He wasn’t thinking of course, but it was still a resolved problem for now. 

Crowley, during all of this, was still on his way to the cottage. He had gotten stuck in traffic a couple of times, but now he was on a dirt road with no one else around. On his way over, he had been listening to Queen’s best hits. The song that had been playing now was Can’t Stop Me Now. Crowley barely listened to the song though. He had been solely on only thinking about getting to Aziraphale, and with that on his mind, he was sure to get there. 

In fifteen minutes or more so, Crowley had reached the gates to the property where the cottage was. Instead of stopping, he miracled the gate unlocked and open. He drove through with mud slicking the sides of the Bentley. He made it to the cottage in no time. As he got closer, he noticed the lights were on, but that the blinds were pulled. Luckily in his favor, Aziraphale hadn’t heard him at all due to the loud music. Crowley parked the car and stepped out getting immediately wet. His shoes also got very muddy, as he stepped in thick mud. He couldn’t complain about it right now because he had more important matters on his hands. 

The next thing Aziraphale remembers was the knocking on the door. Shocked by the knocking at his door, he stood up but failed to do so, which resulted in him falling onto the floor. He hit it hard but managed to get up with shaky knees. Next, he made his way towards the doors. He opened the door but was distracted when he did so. Aziraphale had been patting himself up before he looked up. 

When he did, he looked into Crowley’s eyes with fear for a moment. Crowley too did have a hint of fear in them too. When Aziraphale’s mind finally caught back up, he immediately went to slam the door shut. Crowley had seen it and stuck his foot in the way. He shouted out a sound of pain when it hit him. Aziraphale had been still trying to shut the door on him. 

“Aziraphale!” shouted Crowley. 

“Don’t Aziraphale me! I don’t want you here!” shouted back Aziraphale. 

He had still been struggling to close the door. Frustrated with Aziraphale, Crowley pushed the door back open with his hands. Aziraphale sensing it, stepped back, and let the door swing open. He looked at Crowley with widened eyes. Crowley sighed and stepped in. When he did that, Aziraphale took a step back. 

“I told you to go!” said Aziraphale. 

Crowley replied snarkily. “And I said no.” 

He stepped closer again, and with that, Aziraphale stepped back. “Will you stop doing that!” He stepped closer, and Aziraphale stepped back once again. This time, Aziraphale began to have tears form on the ends of his eyes. 

“I said… I don’t want to see you…” 

Aziraphale began crying immediately after that. He closed his eyes and clasped his hands around his face. Crowley confused by it all, was really worried. He stepped forward, and this time Aziraphale didn’t step back. He put his hand on Aziraphale’s shoulder. Aziraphale then suddenly swatted his hand away and turned his back to him again. He walked over and laid down on the sofa. All of this was very odd for Aziraphale, something was off, and Crowley knew it. He walked over and sat next to Aziraphale. 

That was when he noticed the various bottles laid out on the table. There had been roughly four large champagne bottles, along with a couple of wine ones. Crowley looked back at Aziraphale with concern. He couldn’t see Aziraphales face though, he had his face turned towards the back of the sofa. His hands and arms that were in the way, also made it so that his face couldn’t be seen. 

Crowley sighed and spoke softly. “You’ve been drinking again…” 

He watched for a reaction but got none. Crowley shifted and put his hand on Aziraphale’s shin. “Are you alright?” He really was concerned for Aziraphale right now. Aziraphale shot up and stared at Crowley with a furious expression. It faded out when Crowley took off his glasses and set them on the table. Aziraphale looked more surprise now. Then he sighed and looked away. The bottles now began to fill back up again. 

When they stopped, Aziraphale made a disgusted look before turning his head back. He looked at Crowley kindly, but with a frown. Aziraphale was still upset. They sat there for a while, and Crowley didn’t mind. He knew that Aziraphale was trying to find his words. During that short time, Crowley realized the music that was playing. It was Chopin Waltz Op.69 No.2. The song had been really sad in Crowley’s opinion. 

Then Aziraphale finally spoke, and in two simple words, he said, “I’m sorry.” 

Crowley didn’t really understand at first. “For what?” 

“For everything… For leaving when you… I’m sorry.” 

He didn’t have a response at first. “It’s fine…” 

Aziraphale leaned closer to Crowley while still sitting, and put his hands over Crowley’s. “It’s really not, It’s my fault for being so dull. I really thought that you couldn’t love me, but I see that’s wrong now.” 

He looked up and smiled at Crowley. Crowley’s lips parted in surprise. A blush crept up onto his face as a reaction. Then he closed his eyes and lips. 

“But… do you love me?” asked Crowley. 

Aziraphale moved in closer, only inches away from Crowley’s face now. In a whisper, he said, “I do.” 

Then at that moment, Aziraphale finally leaned in fully. The two of them were now kissing. Crowley at first was so shocked that he hadn’t moved. He stayed like that with his eyes wide opened, until his mind caught up. Crowley pushed forward and wrapped his fingers in Aziraphale’s hair. This went on for a while, and it was great for both of them. 

After years of waiting, the two of them are finally together. It only took them 6000 years to do so, but it was still worth it. Both were extremely happy, and extravagant at their new shared loved. After the night was over, Crowley stayed for a while. He and Aziraphale had cleaned up the cottage. 

It was now clean, and neat like it had been when Aziraphale bought it. There were even some new additions to the house, like a greenhouse. Crowley had bought and picked plants to put in there. They grew to become very lovely, but still the most terrified. Aziraphale meanwhile, had grown his collection of books in the cottage. In fact, there had been even more bookshelves added, including a shelf specifically for records. The two of them were happy. 

Which leads me to once a special moment between the two. As a surprise, Crowley had set up a picnic on a hill just down the road. Aziraphale who had no clue about it, had been blindfolded. Crowley drove him in the Bentley with music blaring. “Where ever are we going dear?” asked Aziraphale. 

“You’ll see,” replied Crowley. 

Aziraphale pouted in his seat. When they stopped, Crowley helped him out. With the blindfold still on, Crowley led him up the hill. When they got to the top, Crowley removed the blindfold to reveal the picnic. Aziraphale beamed when he realized. He hugged Crowley, and kissed him on the cheek. 

From there on, they spent the afternoon eating and gazing at the sky above. They had even stayed for the night, where they began to gaze at the stars. Crowley turned his head and looked at Aziraphale who had a smile on his face. Then he was caught staring when Aziraphale turned his head. 

“Beautiful, are they not?” asked Aziraphale. 

“They are,” replied Crowley. 

He smiled at Aziraphale and stood up. Aziraphale looked at him confused. Crowley then held out his hand for Aziraphale. Seeing Aziraphale's confusion, Crowley finally said something. “Would you like to see them?” asked Crowley. Aziraphale took his hand and was lifted up. 

“I would love to,” replied Aziraphale. 

He and Crowley took out their wings after his reply. Crowley lifted off first with Aziraphale in hand. They flew up and up till they were in the stars themselves. That was when Crowley took Aziraphale by the hand and began to dance with him. Aziraphale laughed, as they danced in the middle of the stars. Crowley too had a smile bright as day. 

They continued to serenade in the stars that Crowley had once made. And that’s it, that’s the story. After that, they lived a happy life in a small cottage down south. Even now, they stay together, up until the end of it all. Even when the next Armageddon does happen, they will be there. Forever looking on, and being with each other. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say thanks to all of those who appreciated this fic, you all really did encourage me to continue writing this. And thanks to all of those who are in the server! (you know who you are) Anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed the story!


End file.
